Caterpillar Hero
by TheLateNightStoryteller
Summary: A short, fluffy story about Skye and Jemma spending a day together looking for caterpillars.


**Context: **This story takes place sometime before the events of 1x17 Turn, Turn, Turn. Agents of Shield belongs to its amazing creators and ABC and Marvel.

Skye stood alone in the woods, wondering where Jemma had gone. The taste of her sandwich (that had been filled with ingredients she did not recognize and whose names she did not remember) lingered in her mouth. Fitz had made both of them a lunch for their field trip but he had only known Jemma's favourite sandwich and he had been rushed so had packed them both the same thing. Skye hadn't actually liked it all that much but it felt good that he had cared enough to make it. It even came with a note instructing her to "have fun! :)" and a fruit with a face on it he'd named Mr. Papaya.  
Jemma had been thrilled when Skye had agreed to come looking for monarch caterpillars with her and that too had felt good. They were meant to be counting them and recording their location to enter data into some group research project. Jemma said people all over North America were doing it and that the information would be beneficial to protecting the species. Skye wondered again where she had skipped off to and was relieved when she heard her friend's footsteps sloshing across the watery ground.

"Skye look! I found one." Jemma chirped happily, holding out her hands for the other girl to see.  
Skye stood up from the plant she was examining to see what her friend had found and her eyes widened in surprise.  
"Simmons!" she gasped because the other girl was caked in dark mud from her feet to her waist.  
"What?" Jemma cried, her eyes huge, "Is it a bear?" She spun around, her gaze darting in every direction.  
"No, no don't worry." Skye assured her quickly, "It's just, your clothes..."  
"Huh?" she examined her pants, "Oh, its fine." she laughed and her body relaxed. "You really scared me for a moment!"  
"Sorry," Skye apologized, "I just thought you'd be worried about ruining them."  
She shrugged dismissively. "They're field clothes, they're suppose to get dirty." she informed her. "Anyhow, take a look!"

Skye approached and noticed a large white, yellow and black caterpillar crawling on Jemma's fingers.  
"Isn't it amazing?" she exclaimed.  
Skye took in the girl in front of her, who was coated in mud and holding a caterpillar with a grin that spread from one ear to the other, and felt a rush of affection.  
She smiled, "Is that one of those monarchs?"  
Jemma nodded enthusiastically. "I've never found one in the wild," she gushed, "I've only seen them in museums. They're absolutely fascinating. They eat milkweed, which is filled with arsenic so they become poisonous and other animals don't eat them. They're really endangered though."  
"Hence our mission." Skye guessed.  
Jemma beamed at her, "Precisely! Will you hold her while I write down how many I found?"  
"Ok," Skye agreed hesitantly, stretching out her hand.  
The chubby insect was placed onto her palm and preceded to crawl onto her fingers.  
"Keep putting your hand in front of her," Jemma instructed, removing her note book and a pen from her backpack.  
"Alright," she said, making it crawl onto her other hand. It tickled a bit but it was neat to watch its little feet move it forward.

"I can take her back now," Jemma offered when she was finished. "I should put her back where I found her."  
"You're going to cross the swamp again?" Skye asked, amazed.  
"I took her from her home," Jemma explained. "It's my responsibility to return her."  
"You really care about these bugs," Skye remarked.  
"They are an important part of our planet." Jemma told her. "We need to protect them. That's why we're here after all; to gather data on where they are found so people can find better ways to keep them safe. Also this is so much fun!"  
"It is," Skye agreed, admiring her friend's passion. "Spending a day out with my caterpillar hero."  
Jemma blushed, "I don't know about hero."  
Skye laughed, "You are, and you're Stripey's hero too." she pointed to the caterpillar.  
Jemma looked pleased. "I'm glad you came with me." she said.  
"Me too." Skye replied. Feeling brave she added, "I can come see the other caterpillars with you if you'd like."  
"You don't mind getting your clothes full of mud?" asked Jemma, raising her eyebrows.  
"They're field clothes," Skye reminded her, "they're suppose to get dirty."  
They grinned at each other.

Jemma led Skye across the swamp, assuring her that the leeches would not be able to get through their pants and boots, and showed her the row of milkweed that was teaming with the round yellow, white and black creatures. It was amazing how much Jemma knew about them and Skye found herself caught up in the other girl's excitement. The two of them were very different people, Skye later reflected, but that was a good thing because it meant they had a lot to teach each other. She intended to keep learning from Jemma for the rest of her life, because she couldn't imagine a life without her.

**Fun Background**

Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, read or liked my other stories. You guys are fanfiction heroes!

The end of this story is, of course, based on the conversation between Jemma and Triplett about how she and Skye are very different but she could not imagine her life without her. I admire people who can respect and learn from each other's differences.

I keep calling Simmons Jemma in my stories because it is first nature for me to use people's first name but if it takes away from the story let me know. (I find it easier to call Fitz Fitz because I keep forgetting it isn't his first name. Also it sounds like some cute little electric bumblebee.)

Fringe reference: I edited this story after I published it to include the reference to fringe. It is Mr. Papaya, the fruit Walter explodes in 1x06 _The Cure. _It was sad because Mr. Papaya is the friendliest of fruits.

Monarch butterflies live in many more places other than North America (including Australia and South America according to National Geographic) but I know more about the North American population which are famous for their long migration of almost 5000 kilometers (3000 miles) from California to Mexico.  
They eat only milkweed (or almost only) and the insect is dependant on the plant for survival. Like Jemma says in the story they use this food source to make themselves poisonous so other animals wont eat them. The species is threatened by loss of milkweed in their summer home (which includes the area I live) as well as a series of natural disasters in their Mexican wintering grounds (again according to national geographic).


End file.
